


Darker Places

by percyinpanties



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, implied - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:29:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5017456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyinpanties/pseuds/percyinpanties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Percy's minds will still take him to darker places. Thankfully, Jason is there to pull him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darker Places

**Author's Note:**

> I swear to god, my titles get worse with every fic I publish.

It happened a lot after the war. Percy would get quiet, lethargic and still, somewhere in a corner where he hoped no one would notice that his mind was taking him to places he didn’t want to be at all.

It got worse when Annabeth left, even though Percy understood that she had to fight her own demons and that maybe, this once, they couldn’t go through this together.  Percy never wanted anyone to take her place, determined to get through everything by himself if he had to. In hindsight, he was lucky that his friends didn’t listen to him.

* * *

“Percy.” Jason’s voice is far away, almost like an echo, or a memory. There are hands on his arms, then his shoulder, and Percy is vaguely aware of being moved. His eyes are wide-open, but unseeing. His skin itches and burns but Percy can’t move his hands to open the wounds, even though he sees the image of blood running down his arms. His throat is parched, like the air itself is acid again, and Percy believes he can taste the fire on his tongue that fills him with all-consuming heat and pain. The world around him becomes red, dark and poisonous, slowly stripping away what is left of his sanity.

A single touch and Percy hesitates. Fingers trace along his arms, but not his own. The pressure doesn’t burn, doesn’t hurt, in fact it feels soothing. Another touch, lips on the back of Percy’s neck, then the side of his throat, his jaw, his cheeks.

“Come back to me, Percy.” A voice again, but this time it’s harder to understand where it’s coming from. Lips on the lobe of his ear, hands on his chest, his stomach. Percy manages to close his eyes, concentrate on the feelings of touch instead of those the memories try to make him believe are real. A body pressed against his back, legs on either side of his, someone holding him tight, close, _save._

“I got you, Percy. You’re home, you’re with me.” Jason, Percy realises. His hands and his voice, his lips on Percy’s skin.

The next time he opens his eyes, it’s to meet a pair of blue ones that look at him in unconcealed concern. He’s back to the real world, and when he takes a deep, slow breath, Jason starts to smile. At some point, Jason must have turned him around, because now he is straddling Jason’s lap.

“Water?” Jason asks when he brings one of his hands up to Percy’s face. Instinctively, Percy leans into the touch and nuzzles his cheek against Jason’s palm. He doesn’t quite trust himself to speak yet, but with Jason, he never has to.

The glass is cool against Percy’s lips and for a moment, the panic flares up again: the irrational fear that it will be fire scorching the inside of his mouth and burning down his throat. Jason thumb, rubbing softly over his cheekbone, keeps Percy in the real world though. Cold water hits his tongue and Percy’s eyes flutter closed for just a second and the phantom ache in his lungs eases along with that in his throat.

“Better?” Jason asks, running his fingers through Percy’s hair now. A nod, a small smile, and Percy opens his eyes again.

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> as always, let me know what you thought of this down below <3


End file.
